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Labor Day Putting down your wrenches or time for
MORE wrenching? 
Plenty of places to share. | | Click on image for the lowdown. 
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Apr 26th, 2026 | | AD Chevy Trucks  Over 6,000 pictures Brad Allen has an awesome collection of Chevrolet factory pictures that he has set up from film strips. Check them out!
Lots of work on Brad's part ... pure enjoyment (and references) for you!
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For helping keep this great
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on the Internet for over 30 years! and not clogged down
with Ads!  Again, thanks!
| | | | Joined: Feb 2012 Posts: 506 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Feb 2012 Posts: 506 | Gusco;
I'm interested to see how this turns out as well.
My problem is that whenever I put my 250lbs on the end of a breaker bar, I find that I'm doing something wrong and quickly regret my mistake. :-) I'm with Carl. You definitely get to sing the man song when you get that job finished.
Thanks
Larry
| | | | | Joined: Feb 2015 Posts: 285 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Feb 2015 Posts: 285 | Sorry for the delay. We had youth camp this past week and I was unable to make any progress.
I have the diff assembled, but cannot report on how it all turned out because I have not run it yet. I still need to plumb the brake lines and chase down some smoke from what I am hoping are bad valve stem seals. Overall, I liked the quality of the Ratech kit and it had everything I needed in it.
In reassembling I will note a few difficulties so anyone else attempting this (or just reading/following the thread) can benefit from: I tried installing the axle seal without a seal driver and wound up damaging it. It was only $4 at a Oreilly's, but save yourself some time and money and use a seal driver to get it done right the first time. There were some reviews of the Dorman axle stating that it was too short and as a result the c-clip was impossible to install. Mine was short as well. I had to drive it in pretty far and tap the c-clip in because it was a tight squeeze. Finally, getting the shims, bearing cups, and case in at the same time is very difficult. I started by measuring the factory shims (one solid piece on each side) and then creating a stack close to their thicknesses to match. They did not want to go in, so I pulled about .010 out of each side and it went in a little easier... but it still needed some convincing. I measured the bearing preload and it had increased by about 8 in-lbs. It was my understanding 7in-lbs was the desired amount, but I left it as is and proceded to check the backlash and wear pattern. It was a little tough to see the wear pattern (maybe I used too little paint??) but it looked alright. I buttoned it up with a new U-joint because one of the bearing cups was missing a needle bearing.
I'll try to remember to report once I drive it to report any noises and general operation. | | |
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